Alerts

2013

New York,
February 19, 2013--International journalist Nadir Dendoune was released on
February 14 after being detained in Iraqi prison for almost a month, according
to news reports. Dendoune was arrested for photographing a location officials
described as being restricted and was later accused of failing to register
under the country's vague Journalist Protection Law.

New York, February 15, 2013--Authorities in the Democratic Republic
of Congo should release pending appeal a journalist who was sentenced to six
months in prison in December on defamation charges, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said today. The journalist was taken into custody on Tuesday.

Police arrested Joachim Diana Gikupa, editor of the private daily La Colombe in Kinshasa, and held him at a local court before transferring him to Malaka central prison, according to local news reports. Gikupa's lawyers filed an appeal, saying the journalist was in poor health and should be released on bail, according to the U.N.-backed broadcaster Radio Okapi. Gikupa was also ordered to pay US$20,000 in damages, local press freedom groups reported.

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Abuja, Nigeria, February 15, 2013--Authorities should
halt their harassment of a Nigerian journalist whose paper published
allegations of extrajudicial detentions being carried out by the country's
special army unit, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Armed officers of Nigeria's Joint Task Force and members of the State Secret Service (SSS) raided the Kaduna home of Musa Muhammad Awwal, an editor of the Hausa-language weekly Al-Mizan, early on Thursday, according to news reports. The agents seized Awwal's laptop and phone and took him into custody, saying they had been told to bring him to Abuja, the capital, Al-Mizan Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Musa, said in a press release. The officers did not cite a reason for the detention or produce a warrant, Abdulmumin Giwa, an editor at Al-Mizan, told CPJ. Giwa also said that the Nigeria Union of Journalists had confirmed that Awwal was being held by the SSS.

Abuja, Nigeria, February 13, 2013--Authorities in Nigeria's
northern state of Kano should drop the criminal charges filed on Tuesday against
two radio journalists who have been detained since Sunday in connection with
their criticism of local officials' handling of a polio vaccination campaign,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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New York, February
13, 2013--Authorities in Kurdistan should immediately investigate and apprehend
the perpetrators responsible for an explosion on the roof of the independent Nalia
Radio and Television in Sulaymaniyah on Saturday, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said today. The attack occurred the day after the station aired a
caller's criticism of Mustafa Barzani,
the former leader of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party.

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New York, February 13, 2013--A state
prosecutor in Baku, the capital, asked a court today to convict imprisoned journalist
Avaz Zeynally on charges of extortion and bribery and sentence him to 11 years
in jail, according to news reports. Zeynally, editor of the independent daily Khural, has been held in pretrial
detention since October 2011.

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Istanbul, February 11, 2013--The release of at least seven
journalists and media workers from pretrial detention is a positive step toward
restoring the press freedom climate in Turkey, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said today.

New York, February, 11, 2013--At least two more journalists have been
arrested by Iranian authorities, bringing to 17 the number of journalists
caught in the newest crackdown against the Iranian press, according to news reports.
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to immediately halt
their campaign against critical news media in the run-up to the presidential
elections in June.

February
8, 2013, New York--Individuals alleged to be part of a right-wing Hindu group
attacked an employee of the Mangalore-based Karavali
Ale daily on Wednesday, confiscated and torched copies of the paper's
editions on Thursday, and threatened news vendors, according to news reports
and the head of the media group that owns the paper. The paper had published a
front page story linking the Hindu group to drug trafficking, news reports said.

Nairobi, February 8,
2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the revival of
criminal charges against Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn today in what
appears to be a politicized court hearing designed to censor one of the few
critical voices left in the country.